Tipton has repeating on its mind

In the past six seasons, there isn’t much the Tipton Tigers haven’t accomplished.

They have been in the Class C state title game five of those six years with three championships to their credit. They've won it all in 2012, 2014 and 2016, but the one thing they have not been able to do is repeat.

“It looks like the odd years haven’t been good to us,” Tiger coach Travis White quipped. "Repeating is hard. Everyone is shooting at you. Last year we weren’t really considered the favorite. This year it will be different. We will have the target on our back.”

What are the Tigers' biggest keys to repeating? One sticks out for White, who has been the head coach for the past two state titles.

“We just have to stay together as a team and we will give ourselves a chance,” he said. “This is really just a team deal. We stress to them that we are a lot better as a group than we are as individuals. The kids we have they just naturally play that way. We don’t have a lot of all-stars out there. We have a lot of solid players across the roster.”

Tipton will have plenty of starters with title experience returning and that along with the motivation of doing something that previous teams couldn’t certainly points to history being made this season.

“We don’t talk a lot about state championships here,” White said. “But this group really has a chance to do something special.”

OFFENSE

SenaJ McBride leads a group of six returnees on the offensive side of the ball. The junior tailback will also line up in the slot.

“We will put him in a lot of spots,” White said. “He makes things happen when he has the ball in his hands.”

Tipton will have to fill the quarterback spot with a newcomer. Lane Chandler, who was at Frederick last year, steps in and he will bring plenty of athleticism. He'll have two big targets at tight end and wideout to get the ball to.

Two-year starter Andrew Lechuga will be the primary target in the passing game. Bryce Waugh will see plenty of throws his way as well as getting some touches in the backfield.

“Offensively we may change things up a bit this year,” White said. “We have been primarily a two-tight end, run-it-right-at-you team in the past. This year we will spread things out a little bit more.”

Multi-year starter Hunter Elliott (6-4/230) is back at guard and will be called on to be the leader in the trenches.

DEFENSE

Defensive ends Waugh and Lechuga will lead a defense that will have starters pulling double duty.

“We rotate a lot of guys on offense so we can keep them fresh on defense,” White said. “You like to have your best players out there on defense.”

McBride will lead the secondary playing corner and safety with Dillon Schmidt looking to settle in at the other safety spot.

EXTRA POINT

Tipton's only loss last year was a 46-38 setback in the season opener to Laverne, which defeated Shattuck for the Class B title.